Introduction
The case of M/S Voltas Ltd, Bombay V Union of India, the court examined the practices which amount to restrictive trade practices and also which are not in favor to the public interest. On December 18, 1969, the Parliament approved the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP) Act, which went into effect on June 1 of the following year. However, as of September 1, 2009, the Competition Act 2002 took its place, making this Act no longer in effect. The Competition Commission of India took over as the monopolies and restrictive trade commission’s replacement.
About the case
The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission’s ruling was appealed under Section 55 of the MRTP Act. The appellants and the respondents, which are various businesses, had a distribution arrangement in place for various kinds of machinery and equipment. The machinery and equipment produced by the defendants had been assigned to the appellant as the exclusive importer. On November 26, 1986, the appellants received notice and were intimated that certain element in the agreement they had signed with the respondents violated the act of restrictive trade practices under clauses (a) and (c) of Section 33(1) of the Act. This Act empowers the MRTP Commission to enquire into monopolistic or restrictive trade practices upon a reference from the Central Government or upon its own knowledge or on information.
Court judgement
The court believed that the appellant (Voltas) had not established a case for the gateway as claimed under Section 38(1). The court further indicated that it believed that they had engaged in “restrictive trade practices,” as claimed in the Notice of Enquiry, and that these actions were obviously harmful to the public interest.